On behalf of the Cars and Copters Team, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on what was unquestionably our largest event to date. What started five years ago as a unique way to bring aircraft and automobiles together to benefit The Jimmy Fund has grown exponentially in size every year thereafter.

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

Writer

Posted Oct. 1, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Oct 1, 2013 at 1:08 AM

Posted Oct. 1, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Oct 1, 2013 at 1:08 AM

» Social News

On behalf of the Cars and Copters Team, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on what was unquestionably our largest event to date. What started five years ago as a unique way to bring aircraft and automobiles together to benefit The Jimmy Fund has grown exponentially in size every year thereafter. This is entirely thanks to the dedicated support of our show participants, spectators, sponsors, the Plymouth Municipal Airport, the residents of South Meadow Road, and the State, Carver and Plymouth Police Departments.

This year was no exception. The local car community arrived at Plymouth Airport on Sept. 15 in a massive display of support. Such growth year after year is truly inspiring. It also needs to be managed properly. This year, we recognize that such management was not where it needed to be, and we take full responsibility.

As the event organizers, we worked very hard to anticipate and plan for the size of the 2013 event. A new, much larger space at the airport was secured, including a mile long driveway to alleviate congestion on the street. Additional food vendors and restrooms were set in place. We publicly requested more event volunteers to assist with parking, and collecting donations for The Jimmy Fund. We hired additional police details to help keep the peace.

For all that we did do, it was not enough to deal with the overwhelming crowds who arrived to support the cause. We would like to sincerely apologize to everyone who was inconvenienced during the show.

This includes but is not limited to: The residents of South Meadow Road and surrounding side streets. You were all extremely patient in dealing with the massive traffic backup, and more importantly dealing with some spectators who were disrespectful to your property and neighborhood.

We would also like to apologize to the spectators for enduring such a long wait to get in. We know that many of you drove a long distance to join us, and once you got there you were turned away at the gate. This is beyond frustrating and totally unacceptable. You were all invited, you prepared, you arrived and were turned away.

The decision was made to close the gate by the police and the airport in the interest of public safety. The event was over capacity and allowing any more cars in would make for unsafe conditions in the event of an emergency.

This not only looked bad for our event, but a lot of you were never able to make your donation to The Jimmy Fund through no fault of your own. That hurts the most. Some of you witnessed cars being allowed in even after you were turned away. That must have felt like rubbing salt in a wound and for that we apologize. We can assure you that those cars had pre paid and secured their spots in advance, just like our other vendors and sponsors. We extended this advance invitation to many different car clubs across New England. We were not selecting who was allowed in based on their car. Cars and Copters has always been open to every make and model regardless of age or condition, it is part of what makes this event so special.

Page 2 of 2 - For as much criticism as we received there have also been many positive comments. Show participants have shared over 1500 event photos on Instagram and Flickr. Many others posted their experiences on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. We are grateful for all of the feedback - good, bad or otherwise. It will only help to better any future events. We have learned that if this event is to continue we will need to evolve and change. We welcome your ideas and suggestions on how to make this happen.

In closing we would like to give a special thank you to all who attended, including all who were turned away. Thank you to all those who waited hours to get in, and all those who walked the mile long driveway. Thanks to all the hard working volunteers, staff, the Plymouth Municipal Airport, residents of South Meadow Road, the State, Carver and Plymouth Police Departments. Thank you to the owners of over 3500 cars and over a dozen helicopters that joined forces that day for a great cause. It is with all of your help that we managed to raise approximately $19,000.00 for The Jimmy Fund in honor of Ricky Hoffman. This more than doubles what we raised in past events. At the end of the day, that was our real goal. You all helped to achieve that with overwhelming support. We are extremely grateful.